3 Dead As Boat Overturns Off Point Loma In San Diego

SAN DIEGO — Three people were killed when a boat overturned off the coast of Point Loma in San Diego Sunday morning.

The accident happened at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday in ocean waters off the Cabrillo National Monument. Border Patrol officials said the boat crashed into the shoreline surrounding the monument and overturned.

The San Diego Fire Department has confirmed three deaths associated with the incidents. Twenty-seven others were rescued from the water and taken to area hospitals.

Identities of the three fatal victims had not been released as of early Sunday afternoon.

The vessel overturned in Point Loma off the coast near 200 Catalina Boulevard and the Cabrillo National Monument, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed earlier.

San Diego firefighters and lifeguards were joined by several other agencies in pulling the people from the water, according to the department.

The boat was possibly being used to transport undocumented people into the United States, according to Jeffery Stephenson of the Customs and Border Protection Public Affairs Office.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Department personnel, lifeguards, U.S. Coast Guard boats and aircraft and Customs and Border Protection air support were still in the area Sunday afternoon searching for other possible victims.

The 27 people who were rescued were taken to a variety of local hospitals, including Sharp Memorial, Palomar Medical Center West, Alvarado, UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest, Grossmont Hospital, Kaiser Clairemont Mesa, Kaiser Zion and Paradise Valley Hospital, the SDFRD said.

SDFRD firefighters and lifeguards, along with federal firefighters, U.S. Coast Guard and other local agencies worked together on the accident.

About 96 personnel were assigned to the rescue, including medics, fire engine crews and a chaplain.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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